Empreedimentos de geração hidrelétrica na Amazônia : desmatamento em áreas de uso restrito e gestão de áreas protegidas

Abstract

The electric energy obtained from renewable sources represents more than 80% of the total produced in Brazil, and about 60% of this renewable energy comes from hydroelectric sources. The Brazilian Amazon is known for its abundance of water, which is the main factor that has attracted increasing hydroelectric investments in the region. Besides the richness of its rivers, the Amazon is rich in biological diversity, possessing a forest with a significant density of organic matter. Much of the forest in the region, due to internal and external pressures of land use change, is under some special protection regime, especially with the status of protected areas (AP), such as Indigenous Lands (TI) and Conservation Units (UC). This situation may exacerbate land use conflicts, since forms of protection and conservation of nature and of the lifestyles of traditional populations use the same territories and natural resources as the public and private electric power-generating enterprises, and the resulting interactions are described mainly as conflicting and as producing negative consequences. This work, however, presents a diagnosis of the importance of protected areas for the conservation of vegetation cover in the vicinity of hydroelectric projects, describes and analyzes the use of management tools, some already existing and others to be suggested, which would allow a reduction in the conflicts and greater environmental efficiency in power generation.